Passenger vehicles, such as automobiles for example, may include seat assemblies that can be configured to support occupants within the vehicle. A seat assembly may include a seat bottom and a seat back, which can be supported on the seat bottom. In turn, the seat bottom may be secured to or otherwise supported on a floor located within a passenger compartment of the vehicle. For example, the seat assembly may be supported on a pair of seat track assemblies for movement in the fore and aft directions (i.e., forward and backward) along the floor of the vehicle.
A seat track assembly may generally include a lower seat track and an upper seat track. The lower seat track can be mounted to or otherwise provided on the floor of the vehicle. The upper seat track can be supported for sliding movement on the lower seat track. In turn, the seat assembly can be mounted to or otherwise supported on the upper seat track. Moreover, the seat track assembly may also include a seat track locking mechanism provided between the lower and upper seat tracks to selectively lock or otherwise prevent sliding movement of the upper seat track relative to the lower seat track.
In an effort to reduce the overall weight of vehicles, seat assemblies have been developed and are currently being developed which are relatively lighter than previous seat designs. However, as a result of such weight reductions, various components that are generally used in seat assemblies, such as seat track assemblies for example, may need to accommodate relatively higher deformation rates when subjected to large loads.
Thus, although current seat track assemblies function in an acceptable manner, it may be desirable to provide an improved seat track assembly having load absorption features that are configured to provided added support to the seat rack assembly and eliminate or reduce deformation of the seat tracks.